(Planned) Activities

 

We envision following working packages and activities for the upcoming years. 

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Work Package 1: Making forest therapy more inclusive

When: continuous

Involved collective members: all 

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First action plan: reaching out to partner organisations which are active in social networking and increasing participation of newcomers

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Work Package 2: Lost in the Belgian Nature 

When: continuous

Involved collective members: all 

 

We want to understand what the pandemic revealed in our lives and how we can repair emotional, physical, social and spiritual cracks in our bodies and souls connecting to each other and other than the human world. 

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Work Package3 : Organising forest therapy sessions with observers

(=Repairing cracks and getting rooted)

When: Not stated, depending of funding

Involved collective members: all 

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With partner organisations we will select different publicly accessible ‘natural landscapes, ranging from a city park to a well connected forest. We will invite people in groups of 2 to 8, depending on the current COVID-19 policy measures, to participate in a forest therapy walks/forest baths. The forest baths are sequences of steps and include several rituals and circle sharing moments, which helps the guide,observer (and other participants) to understand and empathize each other’s relationship with the place and the rest of nature. 

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In each forest bath, an observer, a psychologists, social or medical anthropologist trained in nature connection or ecopsychology, will join to make notes about the participants, guide and the place and collect testimonials about finding grounding, belonging and solace in forests via reflective participatory workshops. The observations will later be discussed and elaborated individually and with the groups as common learning process. 

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Work Package 4: Forest therapy walks and place making 

When? Depending from budget 

Involved collective members: all 

In combination with the previous work package, or separately, we want to combine forest therapy walks with more learning sessions (virtually or in ‘the nature’) in order to identify creative strategies to make the ‘natural’ places of our case studies more inclusive in a way that different beings can benefit in harmony from the stories and experienced health in that place. How can places expand beyond human experiences and how stories of different beings can meet our stories?

 

Work Package 5: Calibrating the old stories to the new reality

When: Continuous 

Leading collective member: Wendy

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We want to dig up ancient stories from below Belgian soil, because we believe that the use of ancient stories is another psychological method is another method to let people ‘root’ temporarily or for continued time in a place. It will go beyond immediate human experience and will get connected  to imagining how it is for other people, other beings to live in that place, or be excluded from that place. However, most old stories need to be calibrated to the new diversity of communities of plants and people, so they can give valuable lessons for the current state and the future of the place. 

 

Soul activities: 

• Wortel-wijs, a monthly circle (in Dutch) under the wings of Robur op Den Eik vzw, about rooting, belonging with the use of stories and DIY forest therapy experiences, starting February 21st, 2021

• Re-rooting, is the English version of Wortel-Wijs, starting March 19th, 2021

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Work Package 6: Communication & dissemination (Non-academic)

When: Continuous 

Involved collective members: all

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This work package is responsible for the communication with partners, participants and externally.

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Wendy is already a blogger for a Belgian magazine, focused on globalisation, and will write one or more articles for a bigger audience about the process. Wendy will also take care of blogs on the Belgian website about forest bathing as well her international blog www.woodwidewebstories.com and prepare texts (in several languages) for partners and press. She will invite more guest bloggers for www.woodwidewebstories.com and focus more on editing the website. 

 

The biggest output would be a visually attractive multilingual transdisciplinary book with maps, or rather palimpsests, of the selected forests and natural landscapes, with texts, photographs and drawings from the participants, partners and other involved people.

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Work Package 7: Academic Writing & Publication

When? Later

Involved collective members: TBC 

 

We envision a transdisciplinary academic paper about the importance/role of public imagination for ecological and social transformation (in this case: making forests inclusive public places), and the contribution of nature based art and health practices in this, preferably in collaboration with the institute.  

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Working Package 8: Scaling up and driving cultural transformation 

When? TBC

Involved collective members: TBC

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• How can we inform policymakers or inspire others to join this? 

• We will explore opportunities in European frameworks like the New Bauhaus Initiative. 

(will be updated).

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Please let us know if you want to be involved in one or more working packages

and we arrange an online talk or a forest walk. 

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